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Laura Jane Graham
I am a computational/spatial ecologist interested in understanding how anthropogenic changes such as climate and land-use change affect global ecosystems, and how this in turn affects human well-being. I am particularly interested in using novel statistical methods and heterogeneous sources of data to answer applied and theoretical questions. I was previously a mathematician and database developer, and apply skills learned there to answer ecological questions.
My PhD research focussed on applying metapopulation models to urban planning problems; particularly in the context of the ecological impact assessment. I then worked as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Stony Brook University NY, where I was modelling impacts of environmental change on hummingbird distributions and movements.
I am currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Spatial Modelling at University of Southampton. My current research is focussed on finding general scaling rules for ecosystem service mapping to understand how land use and policy changes may affect the provision of ecosystem services.
Research Experience
Research Fellow in Spatial Modelling
University of Southampton
Southampton, UK
2016 - Present
Working on the ERC funded project ‘SCALEFORES: Developing a science of scale for ecosystem services’
PI: Felix Eigenbrod
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Stony Brook University
New York, USA
2015 - 2016
Working on the NASA funded project ‘Combining time-series data, ecology and physiology to predict the consequences of climate change on hummingbird diversity’
PI: Catherine Graham
Research Assistant
EU OpenNESS Project
Nottingham, UK
2014
Literature reviews of the connections between natural capital/ecosystem services and macroeconomic competitiveness, and of the state of the field of adaptive management.
Professional Experience
Data Analyst
Experian Ltd.
Nottingham, UK
2007 - 2010
Data analysis, processing and statistical analysis for development and maintenance of core Business Strategies databases and products. I combined socio-demographic and locational data with retail data into reports and analyses to enable my clients to make business decisions.
Teaching & Supervision
Nathan Fox, SPITFIRE PhD
University of Southampton
Southampton, UK
2017 - Present
Thesis title: The applications for geodiversity as a proxy measure of other environmental variables.
Primary Supervisor: Kate Parks. CASE funding: James Bullock, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
Statistics and Programming
University of Southampton
Southampton, UK
2017 - Present
I have developed and delivered statistics and programming materials for the following courses:
- Skills and Project work for GIS MSc
- Data Collection and Research Methods for Sustainability MSc
- Programming for GIS and Spatial Analyses MSc
- Spatial analysis workshop for ADVENT students PhD
I also provided informal support for masters dissertation projects.
Laura Gambino, MA Ecology
Stony Brook University
New York, USA
2016 - 2017
Thesis title: North American hummingbird species distribution and richness in relation to the phenology of plant resources.
Primary Supervisor: Catherine Graham
Software Carpentry Instructor
Teaching coding skills to scientists.
N/A
2015 - Present
I have run workshops at the New York Academy of Sciences and assisted a workshop at Stony Brook University.
Gillian Benson, MSc Environmental Management
University of Nottingham
Nottingham, UK
2015
Thesis title: Testing downscaling methods for woodland bird species.
Primary Supervisor: Richard Field
Teaching Assistant
University of Nottingham
Nottingham, UK
2011 - 2014
I have provided teaching support for the following modules:
- Interpreting Geographical Data First year undergraduate statistics
- Digital Explorers Second year undergraduate GIS
- Geographical Research Methods Masters level statistics
- Professional GIS Masters level GIS
- Lake District Field Trip First year undergraduate field course. I developed and delivered a one day activity for this module
- Tutorial Groups First year undergraduate tutorial groups on biodiversity and ecosystem services
I also provided informal support for undergraduate and masters dissertation projects.
Online Facilitator
FutureLearn
N/A
2013 - 2014
I provided facilitation support for massive online open courses:
- Sustainability, Society and You
- Shale Gas and Fracking: the politics and science.
Education
PhD Geography
University of Nottingham
Nottingham, UK
2011 - 2015
Thesis title: Strengthening urban landscape planning: a metapopulation modelling framework
Funded by the Economic and Social Research Council
The central argument of my PhD research was that ecological impact assessment needs to be done at a landscape scale. To this end, I examined how metapopulation modelling can be used to perform such an assessment and used my methods to compare urban planning scenarios. This research required me to work at the science–policy interface.
Supervisors: Prof. Roy Haines-Young & Dr. Richard Field
Examiners: Prof. Jon Sadler, Dr. Adam Algar
MSc Environmental Management
University of Nottingham
Nottingham, UK
2010 - 2011
Distinction
Thesis title: An Assessment of the suitability of the Incidence Function Model for use in planning and assessing Environmental Stewardship Schemes
Modules included Ecosystem Services & Human Well-being, Foundations in Environmental Management, Frameworks for Environmental Management, Research Methods, Fundamentals of GIS, Geocomputation.
BSc Mathematics
University of Southampton
Southampton, UK
2002 - 2005
First Class Honours
Modules taken focussed on pure mathematics and statistics.
Grants Obtained
ESRC PhD Studentship
How Effective Are Environmental Stewardship Schemes with Regards to Wildlife Conservation?
N/A
2011
£54,216 for fees, maintenance and research training grant
Publications
An analytical framework for spatially targeted management of natural capital
Nature Sustainability, 2, 90–97. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-019-0223-4
N/A
2019
Spake R, Bellamy C, Graham LJ, Watts K, Wilson T, Norton L, Wood C, Schmucki R, Bullock JM, Eigenbrod F
Spatial models of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur stable isotope distributions (isoscapes) across a shelf sea: an INLA approach
Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 0, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.13138
N/A
2019
St John Glew K, Graham LJ, MgGill RAR, Trueman, CN
The incidence function model as a tool for landscape-scale ecological impact assessments
Landscape and Urban Planning, 170, 187–194. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2017.10.008
N/A
2018
Graham LJ, Haines-Young RH, Field R
Future geographic patterns of novel and disappearing assemblages across three dimensions of diversity: A case study with Ecuadorian hummingbirds
Diversity and Distributions, 23, 944–954. https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.12587
N/A
2017
Graham LJ, Weinstein BG, Supp SR, Graham CH
Metapopulation modelling of long-term urban habitat-loss scenarios
Landscape Ecology, 32, 989–1003. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-017-0504-0
N/A
2017
Graham LJ, Haines-Young RH, Field R
Strengthening urban landscape planning: a metapopulation modelling framework
In Urban Landscape Ecology: Science, Policy and Practice. Routledge.
N/A
2016
Graham LJ, Haines-Young RH, Field R
Using citizen science data for conservation planning: methods for quality control and downscaling for use in stochastic patch occupancy modelling
Biological Conservation, 192, 65–73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2015.09.002
N/A
2015
Graham LJ, Haines-Young RH, Field R
Where next for macroecology: citizen macroecology?
Frontiers of Biogeography. 6(1).
N/A
2014
Graham LJ, Bailey JJ, Algar AC, Field R
Presentations
Scale-dependency in drivers of outdoor recreation
British Ecological Society Annual Meeting (invited talk)
Birmingham, UK
2018
A spatial modelling framework for predicting the effects of landscape structure on ecosystem services
Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting (invited talk)
Portland, Oregon, USA
2017
Taxonomic, phylogenetic and functional dimensions of no-analog assemblages
British Ecological Society Annual Meeting
Liverpool, UK
2016
How to do Reproducible Research in R
British Ecological Society Annual Meeting (invited workshop)
Liverpool, UK
2016
Taxonomic, phylogenetic and functional dimensions of no-analog assemblages
Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (invited seminar)
Oxford, UK
2016
How to do Reproducible Research in R
British Ecological Society Macroecology Meeting (invited panel discussion)
Oxford, UK
2016
Metapopulation modelling of long-term urban habitat-loss scenarios
European Ecosystem Services Conference
Antwerp, Belguim
2016
Quantitative landscape-scale ecological impact assessment: a method using the incidence function model
EU Macro
Copenhagen, Denmark
2015
Metapopulation modelling of long-term urban habitat-loss scenarios
Joint Annual Meeting BES and SFE
Lille, France
2014
Quantitative landscape-scale ecological impact assessment: a method using the incidence function model
IALE UK Annual Conference
London, UK
2014
Hanski’s incidence function model for urban biodiversity planning
INTECOL Annual Meeting
London, UK
2013
Workshops
UN-FAO SES Expert Workshop
Applying social-ecological system frameworks to improve sustainable land-use and enhance resilient agro-food systems under water scarcity
Rome, Italy
2018
sLandserv: Linking Landscape Structure to Ecosystem Services
sDiv Synthesis Centre for Biodiversity Sciences
Leipzig, Germany
2017 - 2018
Academic Service
Applications Associate Editor
Methods in Ecology and Evolution
N/A
2019 - Present
Associate Editor
People and Nature
N/A
2018 - Present
Publications Committee Member
British Ecological Society
N/A
2018 - Present
British Ecological Society Quantitative Ecology Special Interest Group
Secretary (since 2018) & Blogmaster (2015 - 2018)
N/A
2015 - Present
Peer Review
N/A
N/A
2014 - Present
- Biological Conservation
- Diversity and Distributions
- Ecography
- Ecological Informatics
- Functional Ecology
- Global Change Biology
- Global Ecology and Biogeography
- Journal of Animal Ecology
- Journal of Biogeography
- Landscape Ecology
- Methods in Ecology and Evolution
- Oikos
- PeerJ
- Plos One
- Sustainability
- Wilson Journal of Ornithology
I am also a member of the British Ecological Society Review College